Dorrell and the dot-com disconnect

The UCLA football team has a 5-2 record and, most important, is 4-0 in Pacific 10 Conference games, making the Rose Bowl game a connect-the-dots straight line.

Still basking in the glow of a 30-21 victory over previously No. 10-ranked California on Saturday, the Bruins sit atop the conference along with seventh-ranked Arizona State.

Yet all is not well in Bruins Cyber World.

Many UCLA players were still in uniform Saturday, recounting the moments of what was the best game they’ve known this season, as Internet chatter was heating up with questions about Coach Karl Dorrell’s judgment.

“Why didn’t he go for it on fourth-and-one?” was posted -- and commented on at length -- on a UCLA fan website less than half an hour after the victory. That one moment in the third quarter, which had no bearing on the outcome of Saturday’s game, was still questioned Monday afternoon, an indication that even in victory Dorrell has doubters.

It has been that way the last four seasons. His teams have teased fans with what seem like watershed moments, only to backtrack to mediocrity. That history left the California victory as a setup for a possible test-case game against conference bottom-feeder Washington State on Saturday at Pullman.

“I’m counting on us continuing to improve and continuing to build the credibility that we feel we should have,” Dorrell said when asked how he expected this team to handle success. “That’s our team credibility.”

Many fans will wait and see. The Bruins set them up before:

* A 6-2 record to start 2003 -- Dorrell’s first season -- went south fast, with the Bruins losing their last five games.

* A 4-1 start the following year dissolved into a 6-6 season.

* In 2005, UCLA won its first eight games, including a victory over Oklahoma, and was ranked No. 7. The Bruins were then routed by an Arizona team that won only three games that season.

This season, the Bruins, with 20 returning starters, were ranked 11th after two weeks. Then they were embarrassed, 44-6, by Utah.

The team’s inconsistency baffles players and frustrates fans.

“I don’t know what it is,” free safety Dennis Keyes said. “It’s just been that way for us. That’s something we’re trying to remedy.”

The anti-Dorrell faction thought a remedy was at hand last week, when a Sporting News blog reported that UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero had met with defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker and asked whether he would be interested in taking over as interim coach.

UCLA officials confirmed the two had met but said it was a scheduled meeting regarding career development. The Sporting News withdrew the blog entry.

But by then Bruins fan websites were abuzz.

Guerrero, who has never deviated from his support of Dorrell, was asked after the Bruins’ 20-6 loss to Notre Dame on Oct. 6 if anything could happen on the field that would make him consider a change. He replied, “My answer in that respect is we’re at the halfway point and there is a great deal of football left to play. Anyone involved with the program is focusing on those next six games.”

Asked if that wasn’t dodging the question, Guerrero replied, “That’s all I’m going to say.”

According to his contract, which runs through 2011, Dorrell would receive $2.05 million over a two-year period if he were to be let go after the season. The point appears moot, as all indications are that Dorrell will return.

“We talk about it as a staff, we understand there is nobody in our corner right now,” Dorrell said. “We can’t let that be the determination of what we love to do. . . . We want people to understand there’s a lot of football to be played this year.”

Dorrell also painted a rosy picture for the remainder of the season, saying, “We have a lot of experience, everything on paper lines up for it to be a great year. It still can be a great year, and that’s what we’re anticipating.”

As for detractors, including those in the media, he said, “The things being said, I can’t do anything about. Those are people outside my jurisdiction.”

What he can do, or rather what his team can do, is win.

Former UCLA Coach Terry Donahue recalled that in 1980, his fifth season, “The day before playing USC the word on the street was if we didn’t win, I was gone. We happened to win and I happened to survive” -- for 15 more seasons.

“There are watershed wins and losses in every coach’s career,” said Donahue, a Dorrell supporter. “A win like Saturday was a very important win for him.”

But Dorrell has had them before and failed on the followup. For example, after a monumental victory over USC last season, the Bruins flopped against Florida State in the Emerald Bowl.

So, Saturday’s Washington State game is going to be “a telling sign,” Dorrell said.

Washington State is 2-5 overall and 0-4 in conference, having lost four consecutive games.

However, Utah and Notre Dame looked just as hopeless as the Cougars do, and Dorrell detractors are quick to remind how those games turned out.

“We have talked, believe me, we’ve talked about this type of game and what we’ve done in the previous parts of our season,” Dorrell said. “So we’re geared to keep building on the improvement we’ve made to this point.”

In the end, though, this game may be a no-win scenario for Dorrell. Beating Washington State is expected, even if the Bruins have lost five of the last seven times they’ve played in Pullman.

A loss and the dissatisfaction pitch intensifies, the Cal victory surely all but forgotten in some quarters.

“I bet all that will shut up when we win the Pac-10,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “But I’m not really concerned with what other people are saying. We just beat Cal, what are they going to say about him now?”

That he didn’t go for the first down on fourth and one?

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chris.foster@latimes.com